4.
It was 11:00am when Andrea entered the lounge to see Geraldine sitting alone. Usually her friend was looking out of the window, ready to greet her and the young child, but not today. Geraldine did not even look up when the door opened into the lounge.
As Andrea approached she could tell something was wrong. The old woman was hunched over the table with her eyes closed, and parking the buggy, Andrea rushed to her side.
“Geraldine, whatever has happened, should I fetch a doctor?”
The old woman was still and yet managed to raise her eyes slowly towards her young friend before closing them again. Andrea could see the pain behind the old grey eyes and immediately wrapped her arms around the old woman's shoulders.
"What on earth has happened Geraldine, what's wrong?"
Sitting down opposite her, she took the old and wrinkly hands in her own, they were cold and unresponsive.
She shouted louder, wondering if she had been heard.
"Geraldine?"
Opening her eyes she looked intently at Andrea as if trying to focus on something that was too far away in the distance.
Her mouth trembled as she tried to speak, but remained silent.
Andrea could feel the tears start to well up in her eyes at the sight of her usual spritely friend.
"Oh Geraldine, let me fetch the doctor?"
The old woman's grip tightened as Andrea tried to stand.
"No."
The voice was frail and almost inaudible.
Andrea remained, her eyes fixed on Geraldine's face.
"It's too late, now listen…"
The words were broken and sluggish. Her mouth was slack and she had difficulty in speaking. Geraldine had suffered a stroke.
"Try not to talk Geraldine; look let me get you a doctor."
The weak hands squeezed her own as tight as they were able and Andrea remained.
"Listen; there is something I need to tell you…"
The old woman leaned closer and lowered her head.
"Helen was here. You are in danger and must return."
"Helen?" Andrea could feel the panic start to rise in her chest.
"She is gaining power and must be stopped, the only way..."
Geraldine stopped mid sentence and closed her eyes, unable to continue. Her mind was active but her body was slowly breaking down.
Andrea stood to leave. She could not bear to see her old friend suffer, and she felt helpless.
"Wait!"
Geraldine summoned her remaining strength to call back her friend.
"You must listen, I haven't much time. Helen is powerful. So powerful that I did not realize she had come for me until it was too late. This morning I sensed her presence and knew the time was near. She has defeated me and will look to end your life and that of the child's. You must return to the past. Take Alex and the child, but go soon. This is the Beginning and the End."
The words were spoken in a quiet whisper and Andrea strained to hear the slurred speech.
"Helen took one of the Runes from me - I knew she would and had to safeguard the other two. She has returned to the past to try and save her brother, Alexhander. You must take the two remaining stones and return with Alex immediately. They are hidden safely in my room, look in the old Gideon's bible - the only place she would not look. You must take Alex first and then return for the child. She will be safe. You will know what to do when the time comes."
Helen had been there that morning and no doubt had been the cause of Geraldine's sudden attack. Andrea felt the bile rise in her throat at the thought of the beautiful yet evil face. If only she had been here earlier, would she have tried to kill them all?
"It is the Beginning and the End, Andrea."
The grip on her hands slackened as the old careworn hands slipped out of her own and flopped lifelessly onto the table. Geraldine was dead.
At first she didn't know what to do and sat helplessly with large tears rolling down her cheeks. Geraldine had been her one ally and only sanity during the last year, and she suddenly felt weak and lost without her old friend.
She touched the soft grey head as it slumped gently onto the silent breast. They were the only customers in the cafe and the one waiting staff was busy in the kitchen preparing for the lunch orders. She wondered what to do.
A cry from the corner brought her back to her senses. She had almost forgotten about Elizabeth in the buggy. Rushing over to pick up the child, Andrea hugged her tightly. Life and death, birth and rebirth, the continuing cycle; that was something Geraldine always told her.
Andrea walked back over to the body of the old woman and kissed her gently on the forehead.
"Have a safe journey Geraldine, wherever you might be going."
It seemed callous to leave her alone, but Geraldine had warned her to leave immediately. She would have to find the runes and then somehow explain all of this to Alex.
The door to Geraldine's hotel room was unlocked. Someone had already been in there before her. Stepping quickly inside, she looked first on the bedside cabinet before opening the small drawer underneath. There was an embroidered handkerchief and a packet of mints. Andrea smiled as she picked up the folded handkerchief and brought it to her face. The faint aroma of rosemary and lavender still lingered in the white cotton weave; it was the scent of Geraldine, the smell of the past.
Soon she was outside and pushing the buggy towards the Abbey. Glancing back towards the hotel she could still see the tiny figure of Geraldine slumped in the window, and pitied the poor waitress who would eventually find her. It would be a great shock.
But now she would need to find Alex and tell him the whole story and she didn't have a clue where to start.
The day was still dull and all was quiet outside the Abbey. Andrea always felt a sense of deep calm in the shadow of the old stones and even today was no exception. There was something unearthly, some ancient wisdom in this sacred ground, now filled with the secrets and whispers of the dead.
The main doors were wide open and she wheeled the buggy up the disabled access ramp and into the ticket office cum gift shop.
Alex was standing drinking coffee at the back of the counter and gave her a surprised smile as she approached.
As soon as she reached him, the tears started to come and would not stop; the shock of Geraldine dying had just started to hit her.
Alex made her a coffee and made her sit down on a wooden pew in the Abbey until she quietened down. She could almost feel the presence of the dead saints as she sat quietly for a moment, gathering her thoughts and wondering what to say.
The two runes in her pocket seemed to be burning into her and they gave her the courage to continue.
At first Alex was incredulous and wondered if she were ill. She mentioned Geraldine but not the fact that she was dead. He loved his grandmother and it would be too great a shock for him, and it would make it almost impossible for him to return with her.
Holding out her hands she presented the runes, the curious little stones that wielded such power.
He took one in his hands and rolled it in his fingers.
"So, you're telling me that this little rock can transport me back in time, where I will embody and bring back to life the dying form of my ancestor Alexhander MacDonald and you will be my wife Andra?”
Andrea nodded meekly.
"And that my children, or their children, will save the world or even the Universe; that is unless the evil Helena doesn't get to them first?"
She nodded her head again.
"And somehow my Gran used to be a nun and is mixed up in all of this?"
Andrea smiled weakly. Coming from his lips it sounded ridiculous and she almost didn't believe it herself.
"Andrea, what kind of films have you been watching lately; do you think it might be something in the coffee they serve at the Columba? It sounds to me like you and dear grandmother are on some kind of drug related trip."
He laughed out loudly at the thought.
"Then you won't mind coming along with me to the chapel next door to show you?"
She teased him hoping that by playing along he would agree.
"Andrea, I have work to do."
"Please, it won't take a moment?"
He looked at her intently for a moment before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Ok, but I must be back in 5 minutes."
The sky outside was grey and the ground beneath them muddy. It was hard to push the buggy across the grass in the graveyard and Alex took charge.
As they walked the short way across to the old section of graves her mind worked overtime. As Geraldine had advised, with only two stones she would have to take Alex first; it would be too hard for him to take it all in on his own.
She could leave Elizabeth here in her buggy; in real time she would be gone and back in the mere blink of an eye.
There was no more time to lose or explain. Ensuring the brake was firmly on the buggy and that Elizabeth was settled, Andrea took one of the stones and passed it to Alex who eyed it suspiciously.
"So, what am I supposed to do with this, wish for Santa Clause?"
Andrea smiled tolerantly and led the way to the ancient grave of Alexhander MacDonald. As they reached the spot she could hear a bell start to toll midday in the distance.
Kneeling on the ground she beckoned for Alex to do the same. He rolled his eyes but followed suit, anything to keep the peace.
The wind whipped up from the East and a low mist drifted in from across the ocean until it surrounded the graveyard of the tiny chapel of St Oran.